BIRD GUIDING AROUND OSLO

Finnmark March 2012

I travelled for four days to Finnmark with Bjørn Olav Tveit at a time when traditionally there
is little coverage and we hoped to find some rare gulls (thinking Thayer's,
Ross's, Ivory, Glaucous Winged etc). We feared that the weather would be
atrocious but in the end we had mostly great weather, it was cold (-2C) but
there was little wind and mostly blue skies although on the last day there were
occasional snow storms. The days were long with over 12 hours of daylight
although if it was cloudy the afternoon light was not too good. We were in the
field from around dawn every day (5am) and birded for 4 or 5 hours before
breakfast and then were out until dusk.

Bird wise
we did not score the big rarity that we had hoped for but we did have fun going
through the gulls and playing with tricky identification challenges concerning
hybrids and subspecies. We also had outstanding views of Steller's Eider and
Hawk Owl which are way up there amongst my favourite species.

Itinerary

Thursday
22 March 2012.

Flew Oslo
to Kirkenes. Collected hire car and drove the 240km to Vardø although after
Vadsø it was too dark for birding. Spent time particularly at Munkefjorden,
Nesseby, Vestre Jakobselv and Vadsø. Spent the night in a self catering room in
a private house in Vardø.

Munkefjord

Friday 23
March 2012

Based in
Vardø we birded Vardø island, Svartnes, Kiberg and all the bays to Vadsø
including those at Ekkerøy. Spent the night again in Vardø

Harbour breakwater in Vardø, with Bjørn Olav. Hornøya is to the left in the distance

Hornøya from a little over 1km. Note the swarms of birds flying around the cliffs

Saturday
24 March

Followed
the same route as yesterday although we spent a lot more time at Svartnes
looking at the gulls which came to bathe in the fresh water stream here and
finished the day in Vadsø. Stayed at the Rica Hotel in Vadsø and ate at what is
reputedly the world’s northernmost curry house.

The interior was still snow decked

Vardø harbour with the Hurtigruta Ship in town

Sunday 25
March

Before
breakfast we birded east of Vadsø as far as Skallelv. After breakfast we drove west, stopping at Vestre Jakobselv and
Nesseby. We had intended to drive to Pasvik but saw that time was against us so
went to Tana Bru and the Tana valley instead. On the drive to Kirkenes airport
we checked out Munkefjord again.

Nesseby Church

Species
List with both English and Norwegian names

White-billed Diver (Gulnebblom)

6 birds
seen in total, 4 singles and two together. All sightings were in bays between Kramvik
and Ekkerøy a stretch of about 40km. None of the birds were in summer plumage and
were most likely 2K.

Black-throated Diver (Storlom)

2 birds seen
alongside White-billed Divers

Red-throated
Diver (Smålom)

2 birds seen
alongside White-billed Divers

Cormorant (Storskarv)

Odd birds
seen including a tight resting flock of 30 that could well have been newly
arrived migrants.

Shag
(Toppskarv)

Common around Vardø

Greylag
Goose (Grågås)

A single
bird at Kiberg

Mallard (Stokkand)

Given the
time of the year surprisingly widespread in shallow bays.

Common Scoter (Svartand)

A number
of small flocks between Vardø and Vadsø.

Velvet Scoter (Sjøorre)

Seen
regularly in small numbers (never more than 4 together)

Common Goldeneye (Kvinand)

A single
bird in Munkefjorden

Long-tailed Duck (Havelle)

Common
with flocks of upto 100

Red-breasted Merganser (Siland)

Seen
regularly in small numbers

Common Eider (Ærfugl)

Very
common with many flocks/gatherings of 100+ birds. In Vardø harbour we also had
a small number of birds with obvious “sails” indicative of the Svalbard/Iceland
race Borealis including one male with a very distinct yellow bill.

Common Eiders in Vardø Harbour

"Northern" Common Eider ssp Borealis. Note "sails"

"Northern" Common Eider ssp Borealis, note yellow bill

Common Eider flock with male King Eider (right-hand side) and hybird (8th bird from left)

Steller’s
Eider (Stellerand)

A few
birds at Nesseby and then very common from Vadsø to Vardø. On the 23rd
we counted all the birds we saw and had in excess of 1200.

Steller's Eider Kiberg

Steller's Eider Kiberg

King Eider
(Praktærfugl)

Seen
regularly in small numbers in both Munkefjorden and Varangerfjorden but at
Vardø there were a couple of flocks in excess of 1000 birds. An interesting
hybrid seen at Krampeness which was far closer to Common Eider than pictures I
have seen of other hybrids which could indicate it being a second generation, i,e
Common Eider x (Common x King Eider).

Hybrid (possible second generation) Common x King Eider

King Eider pair

White-tailed Eagle (Havørn)

Surprisingly
scarce with only a handful of birds seen – far fewer than in May 2011

Sparrowhawk (Spurvehauk)

One in
Tana Bru

Purple Sandpiper (Fjæreplytt)

Seen
along all coast, both on rocky coasts and feeding in muddy bays.

Black-headed Gull (Hettemåke)

Two
adults in Vadsø – early birds

Common
Gull (Fiskemåke)

An adult
and 2k in Vadsø harbour, the 2k was well seen and showed characters of the
Russian subspecies Heinei. Two adults at Svartnes, one of which was ringed and
showed features of Heinei including a pale eye.

2k Common Gull presumed ssp Heinei

Adult Common Gull presumed ssp Heinei

Herring
Gull (Gråmåke)

Common
but not as numerous as we had expected probably because there were no
significant presence of fishing boats in any of the harbours. Many of the
adults of had very little black on the wing tips.

Great Black-backed Gull
(Svartbak)

Widespread
in small numbers

Glaucous Gull (Polarmåke)

Only seen
around Vardø. Not as many as I had expected but at least 50 birds, the majority
of which were adults although we did have all ages classes. Two birds (a 2nd winter and a 3rd
winter) were good candidates for hybrids with Herring Gull.

Iceland
Gull (Grønlandsmåke)

Just two
adults, one at Svartnes and one at Kiberg. Both very small so probably females. Given the record influx into northern europe this winter we had expected large numbers of Iceland Gulls and had hoped they would bring far more exciting gulls with them.

Kittikwake
(Krykkje)

Already
back on the breeding cliffs at Hornøya. Many (tens of) thousands

Kittiwakes nesting on buildings in Vardø

Hawk Owl
(Haukugle)

A pair
seen in the Tana Valley.

Hawk Owl, Tana Valley

Puffin
(Lunde)

Small
numbers already back around Hornøya

Razorbill
(Alke)

A single
bird seen from Vardø looking towards Hornøya

Guillemot
(Lomvi)

Many
thousands around Hornøya and Vardø.

Brunnich’s
Guillemot (Polarlomvi)

Ca. 1% of
guillemots that we were able to identify were Brunnich’s

Black
Guillemot (Teist)

Seen
regularly in ones or twos

Rock
Pipit (Skjærpiplerke)

A single
early bird heard overflying Vardø

Great Tit (Kjøttmeis)

Birds
seen in Vestre Jacobselv

Willow Tit (Granmeis)

One seen
Vestre Jakobselv

Raven (Ravn)

Widespread

Carrion Crow (Kråke)

Widespread

Magpie (Skjære)

Widespread
including birds seen far from nearest trees of habitation

Greenfinch (Grønnfink)

Seen/heard
many places including Vardø

Arctic Redpoll (Polarsisik)

Two seen
Vestre Jakobselv

Arctic Redpoll

House Sparrow (Gråspurv)

Surprisingly
widespread and numerous wherever there were houses

Mammals

Common Seal (Steinkobbe)

At least two seen

Grey Seal (Havert)

Seen in
Vadsø. Vardø and Neidenfjord

Grey Seal Vardø

Bearded Seal (Storkobbe)

A single
seen in Neidenjord

Bearded Seal

Porpoise (Nise)

Ca. 100
seen in Kvalnesbukta

Red Fox (Rødrev)

2 seen between Vardø and Vadsø were a sign that there is
food (rodents) although it would have been nice to have seen Arctic Fox or
Snowy Owl....

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About Me

My name is Simon Rix and I am an English birder who has lived in Oslo since 2001. I am a bird guide and served a term on the Norwegian Rarities Committee (NSKF) from 2012-2018.
This blog primarily records my birding around Oslo.